Thats pretty genius Dhvaughan!!! Even if the trans cooler lines don't fit, you can always run a remote cooler. Only thing would be for the hoses to be the same diameter...Why is the V10 rad a little lighter then the V8?

 

update after some more study on this.

feasibility of putting a larger radiator in a V8:

i was thinking about trying this, and wanted to post up what i've learned. if anyone wants to jump into it, here's info to consider.

problem - when towing a camper or boat up the mountain, in the summertime, with AC on, my truck's engine temperature climbs from 180* to 210*. there's a lot of heat dumping out in front of the radiator, including a transmission cooler and the AC condenser.

the factory radiator for the V6 and V8 is only 1 row, with core size of 31x19. all replacements are only 1 row. the diesel and V10 radiators are 3 row, with core size of 36x19. its odd that nobody makes a heavier duty 2 row or 3 row in the 31x19 size. caution- the diesel radiator doesn't have an auto transmission cooler.

the V8 fan shroud is 31" wide and extra deep for the short engine. the diesel and V10 shroud is 36" wide and shallow to accomodate the longer engine.

so what would it take to fit a V10 radiator with auto-trans cooler in place of the V8?
1. fit the radiator.
2. fit the shroud. safety first.
3. fit the fan.
4. connect AT cooler lines.
5. rehang the Windshield washer and Overflow tanks.
6. adapt both radiator hoses. (1.5 and 1.75 to 2.0)
7. maybe do something with the rubber flaps on the side of the radiator.
8. anything else?

another option would be to use electric fans, but you still need a place to put your washer and overflow tanks.

It looks like there are 4 different factory shrouds.
V6 52028003
V8 52028003
V10 52006486
Diesel 52028003

It looks like there are 3 different radiators
V6,V8 CU1552 http://ecat.spectrapremium.com/Produ...hicule/1502301
V10 CU1555 http://ecat.spectrapremium.com/Produ...hicule/1366646
Diesel CU1553 http://ecat.spectrapremium.com/Produ...hicule/1366602

The diesel radiator and shroud have shroud attachment points that are different from the V8/V10. The V8/V10 look similar, and only spaced farther apart.

The radiator inlet and outlet sizes are different, so the hoses need to be adapted.
inlet 1.5 to 2.0
outlet 1.75 to 2.0

part number catalog. download to see it clearly (file - download), otherwise its unreadable.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bz3x...thkey=COyaveAP

place to buy a new V10 shroud for sale price of $55
http://www.newdodgeparts.com
search on 52006486

caution about safety - the shallow V10 shroud might leave the fan exposed !!!

 

Great info DHV, the radiator will mount no problem. If you look to the left and right of where your current upper radiator bolts are, you'll see another mounting position for a wider radiator.

 

Although I don't have data for this specific vehicle, I would expect that transmission heat probably accounts for most of that temperature rise as it commonly enough does. Were I facing that problem I'd probably just dispense with the question and go for it with a precooler, upstream of the radiator, with a thermostatic bypass to enable the transmission to come up to normal operating temperature properly.

I'd probably look into something like Derale's heatsink coolers which can be mounted to the frame rail in a nice safe spot well above road debris.

 

Thanks for posting it. I've noticed mine probably wants a slightly bigger radiator in extreme cases too.

 

This is a very juicy post, and exactly what I've been researching for my modded 5.9! I currently run a FF Dynamics electric fan kit, an external transmission cooler, a 180 thermostat, and a Hemifever SCT tuner.

Temperatures are about 10-20 lower than with the stock fan, and I haven't put my original shroud back on yet--I need to but I like looking at the open space in the engine bay and need to swap out the timing chain (210,000 miles).

The problem for me is going to be obtaining a V10 fan shroud; they appear to be discontinued. Not that they can't be found, but I can't remember the last time I saw a V10 either on the road or in my local junkyard.

Has anyone done this yet, or tried to mount the diesel cooling assembly on a 5.2 / 5.9 ?

It's about that time of year to resurrect this post! I may start collecting V10 parts this month if it's worth it. As well I am wondering if I could use a heat gun to soften up the cooling inlet hose and work it over a silicone-greased V10 radiator inlet.

 

its a minor problem to adapt the hoses to the larger radiator ports.
its a bigger problem to adapt the shroud and make it look like anything other than fido's ***.

i did enough research to find out that there are 3 stock fan shrouds -
V8 (deep)
V10 (shallow) with a different hole pattern
diesel I-6 (shallow) with a 3rd hole pattern.

i bought a diesel shroud from the local junk yard and found that its very shallow to accomodate the longer engines. so i was hoping to graft the wider radiator attachment onto the deeper V8 body, but the way the plastic is made is cheap as hell and made in a couple of different pieces that will just fall apart when you start cutting on them. nothing that a can of fiberglass won't fix...

anyway, after fooling around with it a couple of days i found the all-aluminum CSF and abandoned the diesel radiator.

the idea will work, but will take some doing.

 

Interesting idea, however, it looks like few here have done the work for themselves.

Rather than spend time speculating up in here, it may be wise to source the essentials

and go ahead with the original plan. ( http://www.Car-part.com ) should be a good

place to find all the parts including the radiator shroud, but, then again, so may be a

local craigslist add or the junk yard. If the plan gets to be more dizzying than you had

expected, contact a local radiator company. They may be able to manufacture a

radiator on the spot, and if that doesn't work then you might look for something in a

catalog specific to the build of your truck. There are so many avenues of approach to

solving your overheating issues it is not even funny. Hurry up and post some pictures

of the job being done or at least in progress already!

 

If I'm correct, the shroud (V8/V10/Diesel) mounts to the radiator, and if my 1500 chassis will allow me to mount a larger radiator, then I could conceivably match a shroud up to go along with the radiator that I choose.

As it stands I have to relocate my electric fan setup (center it more instead of placing it closest to the inlet pipe) because it interferes with the edging of the the V8 shroud. Without a shroud currently I used extra-large zip ties to secure my washer bottle and coolant recovery tank to the shroud mounts on my plastic radiator. Not something I would want to post, but it is secure...

If the CFS aluminum radiators are truly being phased out then my next step would be to search for a diesel radiator with the assumption that finding a shroud would be easier. I would then inspect a diesel rig to see how everything lines up before ordering the parts.

Not many Rams of any make in the junkyards of where I'm at right now, and I count that as a good thing! But I will update with photos when I start to put this idea in play.

 

Looking on the internets I found a Spectrum 3-row diesel radiator at Summit for a decent price (with the plastic tank, of course):

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sg...model/ram-2500

Free shipping never hurts, either!

Various Radiator Hose Adaptor fittings include:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-390001/overview/


And Diesel shrouds can be had on eBay if not your friendly local junkyard...

If nothing else comes of this project, I believe I found a decent price on an all aluminum (1-row) radiator. Although I had read that they were being phased out, Alumorad evidently still offers them:

http://www.alumorad.com/dorampinewal.html